“The principal goals of transferring OJJDP’s research and evaluation functions back to NIJ is to improve efficiency and coordination,” said Office of Justice Programs (OJP) spokesperson Jim Goodwin. The consolidations are meant to support a unified strategic research agenda and fully utilize existing scientific knowledge and technical expertise across all program areas.

OJJDP and NIJ are part of OJP.

The research managers who are being transferred will have the advantage of access to a research infrastructure and the chance to collaborate with other social scientist colleagues who are also working on juvenile justice research as part of a larger NIJ research agenda, he said.

Both OJJDP and NIJ have conducted juvenile justice research, so the merger will simplify coordination, Goodwin said.

Funding already obligated for specific grants managed by the OJJDP Research Unit will be transferred with the unit’s members as they move to other offices and bureaus within OJP.

Future funding levels are yet to be determined.

Goodwin said he didn’t know if any of the five research managers scheduled to be transferred have quit their jobs rather than be reassigned to NIJ.